The Ball at Times Square on New Year's Eve, 2013

Been roaming around but haven't gotten the time to post anything to this blog... fearing that you might think I haven't done much of my daily walk, I decide to share with you one major event in my life: seeing the ball at Times Square on New Year's Eve.

The last time I made it to Times Square on New Year's Eve, I caught some confettis after the ball-drop.  This time, I saw and joined the "people mountain people sea" and the ball everyone came to see.

Can you see that shining thing with colors changing above the Toshiba sign?

Please make sure that you are looking at the ball rather than something like its reflection on the wall.

Since I don't move as well as ordinary people, I shipped myself out of the people mountain people sea before even more people arrived.  Sort of like... even though I didn't go all the way, I think I went far enough and the first time of my life I got to see the ball shining at Times Square live!  lol

Happy New Year la!

Le recherche du autos perdu coming to you in December

I cannot predict the future and neither can I go back to the past.  Yet, I know I am going to hop on them autos of the good old days in the near future... such as on one of the Sundays in December... and think I am gonna get a day pass that day simply for the purpose of hopping on and off these trains and buses! 8-O lol

In case you are in NYC in December, something you might wanna try out: Holiday Season Nostalgia Train & Bus Rides!

A historical benchmark--Rockefeller baby gone hiking

My friend said that she wanted to go take a walk in the park and I found it to be a great idea.  After we arrived at the Rockefeller State Park, I realized that it was nothing like the Riverside park... because you essentially go hiking in the mountains.

Since I was there, I have to take the walk and do the slopes, which are still of great difficulties for me.  Yet, I walked on the Sleepy Hallow Trail followed by the Pocantico River Trail till I had to apply the Puerto Plata principle in the Rockefeller state park, turning back without hitting any definitive benchmark since I have to make sure I can make it back to the parking lot in one piece... though it is my grand benchmark.

For weeks if not months, I tried to make sure I climbed them 7 mountains on a daily basis--the slope by the Taipei Arena... with or without a cane. Then, someone had me asked one day, "Why walking on surface harder for you to walk?"  Well, guess, the conversation we had on that slanted road might not have taken place.

I might not have gone as far and as fast as the others have gone.  I might have to take many a mini stops and my ending point might be others' starting point.  But, it doesn't matter... Today, I see my daily training paid off... Rockefeller baby gone hiking for the first time since 2007 in the Rockefeller State Park on two feet... without a cane.  I am also in a far better shape than when I went up to see St. Paul and them canons on Mount Fortress in Macau.

A grand benchmark and a historical moment in my life--Rockefeller baby gone hiking-- with hiking, something I thought I would not be able to do again in my life.  I was wrong because it is done and the reality.



Aches and pain?  Gonna be a potato and rest as well as Epsom salt bath la!

Water dance at Lincoln Center the day the water main broke

It took me hours to go from 110th and Broadway down to Lincoln Center on Sept. 19th, 2011- not knowing that that the subway systems also got crippled by the water main break as I was crippling aimlessly away from my Upper West side.

I think I might have heard something about the disruption in the subway services when I went to get my metrocard recharged at the 72nd street station.  However, I paid it no mind because there is no disability access at 110th station, which makes busing a better option.

Not to mention, my psychotic symptoms were having a field trip... as a result, I was in a phase of paying no nothing no mind anyways.  lol

Somehow, I landed at Lincoln center and spent hours messmorized by the water going up and down da fountain at Lincoln Center.


Fountain 1

Fountain 2


I actually took off because my body was getting really tired.  In addition, it was not a good idea for me to be hanging on the outside in the night when my psychotic symptoms were out of my control.

Unfortunately, the buses were sooooo full and there was no way I could get myself into them buses.  I, thus, decided to get back to the fountain and stared at the water dance some more.

Fountain 3


It was not until much later, and, after I went into Bed, Bath and Beyond to get my once a day vitamins did I bumped into this lady I saw in the park often.

She asked me how I was...  I complained about somehow the buses were too full and I couldn't get home.

If I recall correctly though my memories aren't so good nowadays, so she had me informed... "The water main broke."  That was the reason why.

Right afterwards, a not-so-crowded M104 came and I finally could get back home.

It is not until today did I first see the clips of the havoc caused by the water main break... OMG... the street looks almost like a creek...

Diva's lament and them cherry blossoms in Riverside Park

It was the other day when I was doing my diva's lament about how I was too busy doing God knows what before the accident and not making it to see the cherry blossoms either in Riverside park.

Down the memory lane today, I went back to the old pix I took all the way back... to years before the accident... and found something strange in the picture...


4/2/2006


What the heck? 8-O

Don't them things looking mighty like cherries? 8-O

I must be really getting old. lol

The White Peacock of St. John the Divine

Feeling like to pay St. John a visit these two day but... alas, with my physically capablility, it might be a bit too far for me to walk down there-- since 13 hours time difference and an ocean and a continent apart with me sitting in Taipei, typing this note. 8-O lol

So I went back to some pictures I took and came across the white peacock leisurely strolling alone in the park.... all aloof and paid nobody no mind... on August 9th.

Nice peacock.  Hope you are keeping yourself warm.

The day the day dragonfly stood still

Came across this clip of da dragonfly in front of St. John the Divine.  Took this friend of mine around town that day and showed her the unfinished.

On our way out, she took a pamphlet of St. John which the dragonfly came resting on and we walked the dragonfly.

9/17/2011


One thing I said that day... in our conversation... health first and all shall follow.

There ain't no nothing grander than health... however piece of crack kinda state I am in... ain't no nothing grander than health. 8-X lol

Andrea Bocelli in Central Park

I made it to see Andrea Bocelli in Central Park on Sept. 15.

It was windy and rainy that night.

Not to mention that I was psychotic almost at the institutionalizable grade-- and it was not really too much a good idea for me to be amongst "a lot of people" (apparently, more than 70,000 people- and can you imagine feeling thinking all 70,000 of them have you in their mind- of course, NYPD included).  Yet, since I was not yet institutionalized, I could walk and I got the free ticket, I made it to get to the concert to see Andrea Bocelli in Central Park

The wait on the outside was long, time-wise but the path towards the great lawn once passing the check point was even longer.... man oh man... all those slopes.  At the same time, I also had to deal with the delusional facts that everyone knows me, including Andrea Bocelli, and they were talking about me.

Go figure....

But-- ain't no nothing was gonna stop me especially when I was not behind the gated door-- which one can check in voluntarily but not getting out in the same fashion.

I was determined to see Andrea Bocelli in Central Park.

Regardless, my friend and I made it to the concert before it ended.

Would have been great if we had the front row VIP seating.  Unfortunately, we were so far back that we could hardly see Andrea Bocelli on the stage... Yet, we did spot him once every so often as some small white figure up there.  lol

Regardless, Andrea Bocelli in Central Park on Sept. 15, 2011?

I was there, I lived it and I have my own clips to prove it! :-D

The Prayer: Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli
VIP section version

From where I was


New York, New York
VIP Section version

From where I was...


Time to say goodbye: Andrea Bocelli and Ana Maria Martinez
VIP section version

From where I was


Nessun Dorma
VIP Section version


From where I was...




Time to go....

Riverside park

Marianne Moore: "Beauty is everlasting And dust is for a time"

I think this is beautiful...

Riverside Park in the Night- Nov.13, 2005

Found some pictures I took by Riverside Park on the night of Nov. 13t, 2005.

Almost heaven

Take a look at this... isn't it almost heaven?

From Almost Heaven

The day the big bird saved me from the pouring rain

"How do I tell this slow rat that the rain is pouring down in no time?"

After the first "videography" gig in my life, I decided to take the remaining of my walk along Riverside park at around 5-6 o'clock.

It was getting a bit cloudy though the weather seemed to be relatively fine still...

Then, I saw this gentleman filming something with his camera... also... a red-tailed hawk hanging out on the nearby tree...

When I got closer, I stopped for the big bird and tried to take a clip or two before it eventually flew away...

It was at the same time when I heard the sound of "rain" although I didn't feel the rain drop yet.

Just when I was watching the big bird landing on another distant tree while wondering to myself, "Am I hallucinating the sound of rain?"-- that gentleman who was then back on the bench asked me, "Did the hawk fly away?"

So I replied, "Yes.  I think it heard the rain..." while huge raindrops finally started falling on my arms.

In my imaginary world, this was what happened from that gentleman's perspective...

So I asked that woman with a cane, "Did the hawk fly away?"

She looked back at me with this response, "Yes.  I think it heard the rain." as she looked down on her own arms.

I remained seated, thinking to myself... "Strange woman... what rain is she talking about?  She must have disrupted the hawk and now the hawk is gone..."

It was then when I felt raindrops coming down.

Since we were by the exit of 108th street, all of us near by tried to get out as fast as we could at our own top speed.

As for me- without an umbrella and unable to run- all that I could do is keep walking on....

The rain eventually came down to Broadway from Riverside Park as I was arriving at my building... just so happened... quite a few heavy drops caught me but I escaped the heavy rain.

So I thought... I would have kept on going along the park should I have not stopped for the big bird...

The big bird saved me from getting all trenched from the pouring rain...

The rain brought forth by the same storm causing all the havoc...

Riverside park

Joe's Shanghai

I took my mom to Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown the other day... ordered our favorite juicy buns/soup dumpings and the Shredded Eel with Yellow Chives.

Some people who shared the same table with us seemed to have some problems with the juicy buns... the way I was taught is to bite and suck... 8-O

Biting the top of the bun off and suck the juice or soup out...

The first same-sex couple married in NYC

A picture of the first same-sex couple who got married today in NYC.

Another record-setting day I and many others live through in New York (state)...

I am hot

I am hot and you might be hot, too.

According to weather.com, the temperature in Central Park was as high as 104 degree, which set up a new record high for July 22nd.  It is also the second hottest temperature on record.

How hot is it?

So hot that I did not take a walk today... although, on a day when I voluntarily stop my daily walk, I live through a record-setting day in NYC.

The temperature at 6:23 PM by 110th and Broadway

Current temperature by Riverside Park.

Caffè Taci

I tried to get some old friends together to go to Caffè Taci last Saturday.

It was a nice night out since it's been a long while since I went to the opera night... almost a year or so.

Took my mom as well although she was not too familiar with opera at all.

Following is the clip I tried to take when Marc and Scott sang the nice duet "Au fond du temple saint" from Les pêcheurs de perles by Bizet, and, of course, with Iya on the piano.

Tree skin

I never really pay much attention to the skins of the trees...

When I look at trees, I look at their leaves, branches, the trunks, roots and... OK... the bark also.

These past few days, I started to touch the trees... weird as it might sound... it makes me feel good touch the trees... almost like it helps the flow of energy or qi... and I feel they benefit from receiving my energy.

It was then and after when I started to see the bark of the trees.

After many a trees I touched, it occurred to me....

When many living things grow up, they change skins or shell etc...

What about trees?

Wonder whether it would hurt when the trees try to out grow the once-upon-a-time new skin that no longer fit?

You don't see what you don't know?

I took a rest by the once-dead though seems to be back alive tree during my walk today... observing it with due diligence and extreme degree of curiosity-- trying to figure out whether them leaves belong to the tree itself...

All is serene and calm.

All of a sudden, this huge noise on Riverside Drive gave me a real good shock... thought there might have been an explosion of some kind, or,  firecrackers.

I turned around to see what might have happened and saw this cyclist and his friend came up to the sidewalk from the road.

It was a flat tire.... the tire all of a sudden exploded.

I overheard their conversation-- pondering about where they might be...

"We are at around 94th street."  So I had the info volunteered.

Another guy stopped by... a friend of these two.

It must have been pretty annoying... a nice ride interrupted by an accident as such.... so I thought to myself.

The tire needed to be changed and they were wondering where they might be able to get it done.

Although I had no idea, I couldn't help opening that big mouth of mine again, "Try 96th street.  It is a big street."

The guy with the flat tire asked, "Is there a bike shop?"

"Not sure."

Seeing his friend of a phone, so I replied further, "Google 96th street and Broadway and see."

Not too much longer, I found them getting ready to move...

Out of curiousity, so I asked the last cyclist to arrive, "Anything on 96th and Broadway?"

So he replied, "Yes.  There is a bike shop at 96th and Broadway."

I went... 8-O

How on earth did I know that there is a bike shop at 96th and Broadway when I don't even ride a bicycle?  Not to mention, it's been over a year since I walked along 96th between Broadway and Amsterdam....

Isn't it what they say... you don't see what you don't know or... what your body no longer knows?  8-O lol

Regardless, I didn't see and I didn't know... though... I guess... I sort helped.


View Larger Map

So... I have to keep on walking

Something happened overnight... I woke up with the pressure inside of my head all blown up...

I tried to shake it off but it simply wouldn't go.

As I was trying to explain to people what exactly it is that I felt... I thought of an analogy...

You see.. it is similar feeling you get in an airplane when the plane decendes too fast from the sky... as a result of the pressure change... you sometimes might feel that pressure build up in your head and in your ears...

Except for, it doesn't even require my being in an airplane... it comes when it comes and it feels like eternity waiting for it to go away...

Might have something to do with the walk I took yesterday although, to be honest, distance-wise, 111th to 65th street is actually within the normal range of distance I travel through on foot nowadays.

The whole pressure building up in my head kinda feeling, logically, might have something to do with problems in the cervical area.  Yet,  it ain't like I was walking on my neck?! 8-O lol

Regardless, I felt I should keep on walking today even though the body was still tired.

I walked along Riverside Park-- going from 120th street down-- in search for a tree, or, more exactly, a once-up-a-time vivacious on-its-own-capacity tree.

I had forgot where it was and finally found it again between 93rd and 94th along riverside drive.

I paid it a visit and bid it farewell... and was on my way back to Broadway-- that was when...

This big bird came down with wings spread wide at full speed from above, almost flew right into my face, continued shooting across the riverside drive, and, took its landing on the other side.

When I finally got to the other side of the street and managed to do a bit of the tiny hill climbing... off went that big bird again back to the other side.

So I reckoned... "I think that red-tail hawk recognizes me and it is playing hide and seek with me."

Although...  it was not really necessary for it to scare the heck out of me... dear.

And, I moved on and, at some point, I got back home.

Come to think about it...

What does it mean to see a red-tail hawk crossing my path?

So they say... "The hawk is one of the Spirit Guides. It is a messenger of the Great Spirit, and encourages us to be observant and aware, and to break through a life of being unaware so that we can see the truth."